Samuel e



. i dguitrh gisten. stmt @fitta SAMUEL in'. wILMCT, or BRIDCEPCRa CONNECTICUT, assIGNCR To THE CCLBY SKIRT CCMPANY;

V Letters .Patent No. G8,G7 7,'dated S'eptemlmr l0, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN GLASPS PQR HOOP-SKIRTS.

Etc Stintino nient teilt Hirst Eittitrts @nicht mit mating 1nd et tip snmc.

TO ALL WHOM I'I MAY (JONCERN:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL R.WIL11o'r,ot' Bridgeport, in the count-y of Fairfield, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and improved Jointed Clasp for Hoop-Skirts; and I declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to nia-ke and use the same, reference being had to idle accompanying drawing, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents my improved clasp applied and used to connect a horizontal hoop of a hoop-skirt with a diagonal hoop, both hoops being broken off, thus showing only a partof each.

i Figure 2 represents that part ot' `my clasp, detached, which is to embrace or to be fastencd'on the horizontal hoop. i s

Figure 3 represents that part of the clasp, detached, which 'embraces or is fastened to the diagonal hoop.

This invention consists in a novel "improved jointed clasp forconneeting to each other the horizontal and diagonal or inclined hoops in that class of hoop-skirts whichis described' in Letters Iatent granted to Augustus J. Colby, of New York city, on the sixth day of February, 1866, and known as the Colby Hoop-Skirt. My improvedjointed clasp consists of two distinct and independent fastenings or clasps, which are fastened on the horizontal and diagonal hoops respectively, and are so formed that tliey'are connected to eachother by a hinge joint which allows the said hoops to be moved independently of cach other. i

The letter A designates a part of on'e of the horizontal hoops of a hoopskirt, and B a partI of one of' the diagonal hoops. That part of the jointed clasp which is fastened on the horizontal hoop is shown at C in figs. 1- and 2. It consists of a strap bent double, having rounded ends, which areboth perforated at D. The strap is made from a blank or picco of such a length as to permit its rounded ends, after it'has been bent to the i shape 'shown in fig. 2, Vtoestond beyond the edgeot' the hoop on which itisplaced. The'perforetonsthrough its ends,.as at D, iig. 2, are so made as to clear the edge of the hoop. The letter E designates that part. of the jointed clasp which isfastened on the end'oi` the diagonal hoop. It consists of a strap of'unequal width. The edges ofV its wider parts are turned up vertically, as at F F, and its narrower part formsa joint, G, which is tnrnednp at right angles, for tliceonrenieneeiof the operative, into the resemblance of a hook preparatory to its insertion into the perforationsDofft-llie other part of the clasp.` The parts C and E ofthe jointed clasp are made and formed' ofthe shapes l'shown invtigs. 2 and 3, so that they can be conveniently placed on or bc made to receive thefliorizontalffand diagonal 4'hoops respectively. When the part C of the jointed clasphas been placed von thehoop A at the place where it is desired to connect one of the ends of the diagonal hoop, such part C is compressed and ilattencd down by a pincers or other suitable instrument, so as to become immovable on the hoop A. The joint-part Cr of theoiher portionrE of the clasp is next put through the perforations from below,` and the end of the diagonal-hoop is inserted or placed between the vert-ical flanges F FWhen the end of the joint-part G is bent downwards upon the said diagonal hoop Abetween thctianges F, which latter are next bent down and attencd so as to enclose both the end of said diagonal hoop and the end of the joint-part G, the anges, if they are madefwide enough for that purpose, overlapping each other and concealing the partsenclosed y hy them. The other end of the diagonal hoop E is connected to thc hoop A at a suitable place in like manner.-

By means of this invention the hoops A and B are eonnectedto each other, and the diagonal or other supplementary hoop o f o; hoop-skirt is at the saine time allowed to swing or turn freely on its hinge or joint in the" plane of the'horizontal hoop, the rounded ends ofthe part C permitting the joint to move through a half circle.

This improved jointed clasp is applicable to hoop-skirts of any description or character where one serios of hoops is connected by its ends to another series of hoops, or to any other part of the skirt. i

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination in hoop-skirts of the following parts or devices for connecting the ends of diagonal hoops B to the edges of horizontal hoops A, to wit: A metallic or other strap, C, attached to a horizontal hoop, and perforated where the strap projects beyond the edge of the hoop, and a strap, E, attached to the end of a diagonal hoop and jointed to thc strap C, when the said -strapsare so constructed and arranged that the end ofjoint G 'of strap E, after it is attached to strap C, is permanently secured to the diagonal hoop by bengconfined beneath the anges F F of strap E, substantially as ab'ove set forth.)`

The above specification signed by nie this fourth day of December, 1866.

s. n; wILMoT.

Witnesses:

AMAsA A. Rennen), J. VAN SANTvoonn. 

